Every year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, RAND honors #GivingTuesday, the global day of giving. Started by New York’s 92 Y in partnership with the United Nations Foundation in 2012, #GivingTuesday encourages everyone to take collective action to improve their communities, give back in better, smarter ways to the charities and causes they believe in, and help create a better world.
Throughout this challenging year, RAND has remained committed to our goal of volunteering (safely, while socially distancing) and donating 1% of our gross billing to charitable organizations that are important to our staff through our RAND Gives Back initiative. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have pivoted and adapted to participate in more virtual volunteering and fundraising.
For #GivingTuesday 2020, we'd like to recognize a program that is dear to many of us at RAND. Every year, the students of P256Q at PS43, an elementary and middle school in Far Rockaway, Queens, send letters to Santa with a Winter Wish. In our first three years we fulfilled 351 wishes for the underserved kindergartners through eight graders of P256Q.
As these resilient students make their way through their second term of remote learning, we will be providing Amazon gift cards to the teachers to fulfill these wishes to ensure each student has their Winter Wish granted and receives a gift that they requested in time for the holidays. While we can't be there in person this year, we still continue to look forward to Winter Wishes Day.
For more information on our Winter Wishes program, contact info@nullrandpc.com, and to learn more about what you can do to help someone in need this holiday season, check out givingtuesday.org.
Joanna Kuther is RAND's Operations Manager.
